


Talio and Silenus

by aloris



Category: Original Work
Genre: Constructive Criticism Welcome, F/M, M/M, Multi, Old Work, Work In Progress, original - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 17:03:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20492240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aloris/pseuds/aloris
Summary: I decided to take some of my older works from my Google Docs library and post them to ao3. I'm very open to constructive criticism but would like to stress that these are not a reflection of my current state as a writer. I might have grown after a couple years, but who knows.I also didn't proofread this so if there's some weird shit in there, I'm sorry.





	1. Chapter 1

Talio's scream of fear and outrage echoed out across the top of the dark forest, as the ground grew ever closer. Silenus folded his arms, his curly black hair flying everywhere with the wind, keeping calm as they passed through clouds; getting slightly damp.

"This is why I use the transporter, and not you." His bored, feminine voice entering Talio's ears.

"Who cares?! Just do something!" He shrieked, as they fell past trees, being scraped and scratched by gnarled black branches. They clawed at Talio's blonde hair and scratched Silenus's black hoodie. Finally, they landed in a well-placed bush that cushioned their fall.

"What was I supposed to do?" Silenus asked slightly irritated. He sat up in the gray bush which was almost stripped of all leaves. In retrospect, it was not a very good cushion.   
Silenus and Talio were two boys who started out in a world long forgotten, but the technology was very advanced. At the age of 15 a runaway Talio, had broken into an old lab, which had belonged to Silenus's sister. There he found 16 year old Silenus, who had been ordered by his aunt to clean up the place. Startled, he backed away from Talio, knocking a small device off of a wobbly table. While they began to question each other loudly, the device began to glow a bright blue, and in a flash of brilliant white light they were gone. Teleported to another world, by the tiny machine. The device stopping their aging process, dooming them to wander forever trapped in the bodies of adolescents. And so it's been two years since they left, teleporting from world to world, dimension to dimension, in an attempt to get back to their home.

"Where are we now?" Talio asked quizzically, peering out of the brush.

"You teleported us and yo-" Silenus closed his mouth, as the sound of footsteps began to get louder. An old woman with a comically large head and a stumped over body with long stringy gray hair, came sweeping down the path in clothing as drab as the forest around her. Muttering and murmuring to herself, scattering bread crumbs all over the worn path that had seemingly appeared in the time that they had been sitting in the bushes.

"I swear if this leads to a candy house..." Talio trailed off, as Silenus was already crawling through the bushes after her. Though he had been making quite the noise, the woman had already gotten much farther ahead. Catching up to Silenus in a sort of army crawl he kept talking.

"She's going to cook us in her giant cauldron, and I'll taste like ostriches because someone got us stuck in some Safari-esque world yesterday!" Silenus just sighed, and crawled on.

"Do you ever cease your complaints? You've had plenty of time to adjust to this life." He said, exhaling quietly. The old woman spun around with much more speed than possible for a woman her comical size.

"Wh- Wha?" She scowled, peering into the bushes.

"We're screwed!" Talio whisper screamed, forgetting about Silenus's comments for the moment. The old woman turned around and kept walking, occasionally glancing over her awkward bony shoulders. Breathing out, Talio realized he had been holding his breath.

"She must have bad eyesight." Silenus mused, crawling onward. Talio peered out of the bushes to see a hut that was falling apart, holes in its roof and dangling shutters. Everything was a drab gray, except for the striking black cat with brilliant yellow eyes that stared back at him, it sat on an empty barrel that was propped haphazardly outside the door. His eyes widened, as he turned to see the old woman sweep into the house.

"We're here." Silenus muttered ominously. 

"Remind me again why we're following her!?" Talio whisper shouted. 

"Because the device has a four-hour cool down before we can leave, I'm hungry, and didn't want to be stabbed by prickly bushes where the sun doesn't shine."

"So what, you're just going to steal food from her? That's insane!" However, Talio's stomach growled in protest. It was quite ready to steal from senile old witches.

"Wrong." Silenus said, taking note of the stomach growl.

"We're going to steal food from her." Talio scowled, following Silenus as he crept out of the bushes and to the side of the house. They peered in the window from a safe distance. The old woman was puttering around an equally gray and wobbly table. A strange and pungent smell was wafting through the walls. 

"Why do I take orders from you." Talio muttered, his mouth watering at the prospect of non-ostrich food.

"Because I'm older." Silenus muttered back, his mouth also watering.

"Gentlemen!" A high pitched voice called out from behind them. They both spun around. Talio's head whipped about, looking for the voice that might spell trouble. Silenus pointed to the ground, where the yellow-eyed cat stood calmly. It's eyes studied the two boys intelligently.

"T- The cat talked!" Talio yelped. Silenus smacked his hand over Talio's mouth, and narrowed his eyes.

"How, of all things, does that surprise you?" Silenus hissed. Talio just shrugged uselessly. The cat cleared it's throat, which sent Talio spiraling into disbelief once again. 

"If we can direct our attention back to the talking cat, my name is Nayi." The cat said, licking its paw nonchalantly, as though it met young boys planning to rob it master all the time. 

"Oh great, fantastic, the cat has a name! We're clearly in the middle of something, so if you could go waddle your way back to your little barrel, it would be wildly appreciated." Talio was not subtle in expressing his dislike of magical creatures and magic in general. 

"Oh sure, of course, it's not like I could get you a meal or something. After all, I am just a cat." Nayi's tail flickered back and forth.

"And why would you do that?" Silenus inquired, his green eyes flashing suspiciously. 

"Well," Nayi began. "You have the ability to get something that I want." It pointed it's feline head at Silenus's hands. Talio snorted loudly. 

"You mean our ability is thumbs?" He snickered, and a faint smile graced Silenus's mouth. 

"Yes, ha ha ha, thumbs. Hilarious. How many times do you think I've heard that one." Nayi sighed.

"You try cutting shady deals with random adventurers a lot?" Talio frowned, his tan skin wrinkling. 

"We're getting off track. What do you want in exchange for a meal?" Silenus asked, realizing that the woman inside might've had bad eyesight but that didn't mean she couldn't hear. 

"Don't worry about the old woman, she's lived for nearly twelve thousand years, all her senses are dulled." Nayi said, as though reading his mind.

"Twelve thousand." Talio muttered. Nayi rolled it's cat eyes.

"Keep up human. Now, the item I want is a blue disk, attached to a golden chain. A yellow eye sits on the front and back of it. It's located in the old woman's room, on a drawer. I'll distract her while you grab it." Talio held his hands up as though to stop the cat.

"Woah woah, back up. What about our food?" 

"Just get it while you're grabbing the amulet, numbnuts." The cat replied, impatiently. Talio leaned his head over to whisper to Silenus.

"Do cats from a primitive age normally call people numbnuts?" Silenus just shook his head. 

"How do we know we can trust you?" Silenus asked, ever the deal maker. 

"You don't have much of a choice, do you?" The cat replied coolly, it's tail swishing lazily. 

"Sure, but if this plan fails, or you double-cross us, you're the one we'll be eating tonight." He replied, equally ambivalent. The cat and Talio simultaneously gulped. 

"Fair enough. Once she's out of the room, it's go time." The cat turned tail (pun intended) perhaps a little too hastily, and entered the house.

"You were kidding about eating her right?" Talio said nervously. 

"Cats taste gross, you know that." Silenus said, exasperated. Talio nodded, as the two of them turned to view the situation. Inside the broken home, they could see Nayi pushing, prodding, and meowing at the woman. The cat herded her out a backdoor. 

"So it can meow now?" Talio asked, his face blank. Silenus shrugged and slunk around to the front where he opened the creaky door, wincing at each noise it made. 

"Hurry up idiot." Silenus hissed.

"I'll get the amulet, you grab the food, and don't make a noise." Silenus said, pointing to the cauldron where a bubbling stew sat. It smelled strange, but not in a bad way.

"I'm not an idiot. Why does he think I'll screw everything up." Talio muttered scornfully, but went about his task, quickly opening and closing each dilapidated cupboard with silent vigor. Finally, he found some (at least slightly) unchipped bowls to store the soup in. Meanwhile, Silenus had entered a hallway of four doors. From one he could hear singing and decided that was not the one he wanted to enter. Slowly, so as not to alert the singer in the other room, he opened the first door on his left. Inside was a ragged bed and a drawer. On the drawer sat the amulet. Snatching it victoriously, he crept down the stairs. The scene he arrived on was not the one he was expecting. The old woman had cornered Talio, and more importantly, the cauldron had fallen over. The fire was spreading slowly but surely. 

"Thought you could steal my rutabaga eh!? Well, you can't! It's mine!" The old woman had opened her mouth to reveal a set of teeth that were much, much sharper than they should have been. 

"Silenus!" Talio screamed. Acting hastily, Silenus grabbed a broom that had been lying about haphazardly and shoved it into her comically large mouth. Pulling on Talio's arm, they started to make a break for the exit, when the old woman grabbed Talio's leg, and sunk her teeth into it.

"Did you just bite me?!" Talio yelped, trying to pull away. But the woman was fully latched on, until the fire of the cauldron caught up with the old woman, and begun to burn the end of her gray dress. Which was quite flammable, unsurprisingly. She let go of Talio and began attempting to beat the fire out of her dress with the broken broom that had been shoved in her mouth by Silenus. 

"Let's go, now, Talio." Silenus snapped, trying to pull him out of his daze. Grabbing his bowl (most of the contents had spilled out now, but it was enough), Silenus pulled Talio out of the house. They turned around just in time to see the house be engulfed by flames.

"Well, did you get it?" Nayi asked calmly, it had situated itself in the middle of the path, far from the house that was currently burning down. 

"Where the hell were you!?" Talio yelled. He winced, the pain from the bite was making him start to see spots. He slung his free arm over Silenus's shoulder.

"Don't spill any of that." Silenus said, worry creasing his brow. 

"I said, did you get it?" Nayi snapped, trying to draw their attention back to it. 

"Yes, and can we have this conversation somewhere away from the burning house? It's scorching my back." Silenus said, exasperated.

"Fine. Can he walk?" Nayi asked, pointing its head at Talio.

"Yes, I was bitten, not maimed." Talio snapped, shuffling down the path. Silenus followed silently, trying to drink his soup tentatively. 

"Oh, it's actually pretty good." He murmured.

"Nevermind that, we're far away enough." Nayi said, sitting impatiently. The trees shifted in anticipation, the wind blowing through their empty branches. Talio sat as well, propping himself against a tree, and trying a bit of his soup.

"Now, place the amulet around my neck." Nayi said, and though it's tone sounded calm, it was clear it could wait no longer.

"All that ... for a collar?" Talio said, he might've been more outraged if he was tired and bleeding. 

"Not exactly." Nayi replied as Silenus obliged, stooping down to place the necklace on it's neck. Stepping back, as though he was afraid of what would happen next, Silenus took a sip of his soup. Warm white light surrounded the cat, glowing so bright that it became difficult to look at. When the brilliant supernova finally ended, in Nayi's place stood a young girl, about Talio's age, with black hair so long, it touched the ground. Her yellow eyes flashed brightly. And ... 

"You're naked." Talio said, his mouth slack-jawed.

"Thank you," Nayi snapped. Silenus pulled off his hoodie and threw it at her, revealing a plain black tank top beneath. He was unaffected by this, unlike Talio. 

"You're welcome, thanks for the meal, good day to you." Silenus said blankly, sitting down next to Talio and eating. 

"Good day? You mean you're just done with me? You're not even questioning what just happened?" She said indignantly, zippering up the hoodie. 

"We've seen weirder things. Though Talio's never seen a naked woman before, so I suppose this is new for him." Silenus replied, taking a sip of his soup. Talio had regressed into staring at the forest floor and trying hard to erase the fact that his face was burning. 

"Hey!" Talio snapped, but went back to his staring. 

"What do you mean, weirder things?" She folded her arms, irritated that something could have surpassed her level of weirdness. 

"We're travelers. I ate an ostrich yesterday, and the day before that I had a race with a three-armed doll." Talio stated, finishing off the rest of his soup. He shifted to put the bowl into his backpack and grabbed the roll of gauze. In the bag, Nayi could see a silvery device gleam. A blue light blinked on and off.

"What is that?" Nayi said, her eyes wide. Talio began to wrap his leg up, as Silenus shifted to look at the device as well.

"Oh, the cooldown is done ... that's much faster than I expected." Silenus mused, taking it out of Talio's backpack and zipping it up. 

"W-well the time here moves much faster. But wait what is that?" Nayi said a second time, watching as the two climbed to their feet. 

"I'll do it this time." Silenus said, pressing the red button that sat next to the blinking blue light. Talio just scowled at him. 

"Wait!" Nayi yelled, as a whirring noise began, and a blue light engulfed the two. In an act of desperation, she threw herself at the light. It took her in as well, and just like that the three were gone. The forest fell silent, as though there had never been a trace of them in the first place. Except for the house they burnt down. A flash of brilliant light burst outwards onto a side street, scaring several rats and cats. Its source was a simple alleyway. Once the light died, you could see three teenagers in its place. Unfortunately, Nayi was still in motion when the teleporter had begun, therefore she was still in motion when the teleporter finished. She collided with Talio, sending the two of them crashing into a few stray garbage cans that were commonplace for a typical alley.

"What the HELL!?" Talio yelled. Nayi looked up in surprise. 

"I hadn't meant to ... where are we?" She turned her head to look at the two-storied apartments that towered over the three of them. They were painted pretty colors, blues, and purples. But it was hard to see, since it was pitch black. Stars twinkled brightly.

"The stars..." Nayi whispered, her voice full of awe. 

"It's been so long since I've seen the night sky. Those stupid trees always blocked my view." She smiled, gazing upwards. She had totally forgotten about her surroundings, enraptured by the sky. Meanwhile, Talio was glaring at her, his face burning.

"You still don't have any pants on! And you're lying on top of me!" He said angrily.

"Would you shut up!?" She replied. Silenus, in the meantime, had regressed to standing in the back and waiting for the two of them to stop arguing. 

"You're hardly in the right place to be making demands! Get off me and I'll put you in your place!" Talio said indignantly. 

"Oh wow, making threats to a naked person. I'll bet that makes you feel big." She got off him, tugging the oversized hoodie downwards to cover her upper legs. Her ebony hair dragged on the floor, swishing about angrily. Silenus finally had enough, and just as Nayi opened her mouth to make yet another salt-filled retort, Silenus shoved his hand into the air between the two of them.

"That's it. Talio, before we decide what to do with her, go get a pair of pants. I'm going to go find out where we landed this time. I'll meet you up there once we're done." He pointed to a clock tower that was visible even over the apartment buildings. Talio groaned but obliged. 

"I don't see why she couldn't just come with you." He said, leaving the alleyway and entering the side street.

"I'm not walking around with a naked person. I don't care what reality this is." Silenus shrugged, as Talio and Nayi parted ways with him.

"Well, that was ... wait, reality? He speaks like we have more than one." Nayi said, her eyes narrowing. Talio scoffed.

"You're pretty dense, even for a human. That device we have, it can take us anywhere, multiple realities, multiple dimensions, multiple worlds." Talio said, chuckling. Taking a right, they happened upon a giant bustling market. Though it was odd, seeing as how it was in the middle of the night. But not atypical. Children ran everywhere, as cheery merchants called their wares.

"You talk like you're not a human! And besides, what if I'm not? You did see me turn into a cat a while ago." Nayi countered, stooping down to pick up her hair so as not to get it trampled on.

"If you needed a material item to turn back then yes, you're a human. Likely a cursed one." Nayi looked up, slightly surprised. He was clearly a bit smarter than he let off.  
"Watch your pockets. And put that amulet away, you're asking to be robbed." He murmured to her, as a horde of grubby kids washed over them. 

"I wouldn't get too interested in our device. Because you are not coming with us, as soon as we get you a pair of pants we're out of here." He stopped near a vendor and looked over his trades. Mostly jewelry, but no clothes. Moving on so that it was hard for Nayi to keep up, he stopped at another vendor. 

"F-fine." She huffed, her hair was much heavier than she remembered as a cat.

"So, if I'm not coming with, you could tell me how you two came to be right?" Nayi asked, a sly smirk crossing her face. There was no way those two idiots would leave her in this nocturnal city. Even if it meant forcing the teleportation each time. Talio just shook his head, blonde spiky hair swishing this way and that. He held up a pair of ridiculously puffy pink pants. 

"No." Nayi flatlined, glaring at him. He grinned, and put them back. 

"I'm hungry, lets go eat." Talio said, blowing off her question and heading to a vendor whose food smelled inexplicably good. 

"What? You literally just ate. And hey! Don't avoid my question." She complained, lugging her hair after him.

"Dude, you seriously should cut that stuff off." He replied absently, sauntering up to the counter.

"Dude? What era are you from?" Nayi asked quizzically, staring at the food on the counter of the vendor.

"You pick up a lot of words when you travel. Whatever." He shrugged. Then, leaning down dangerously close to her ear, he whispered.

"Distract him." Startled, Nayi nearly jumped three feet.

"Uh .. alright." She said, dropping the bundles of ebony hair onto the counter, much too close to the food. But the vendor didn't seem to mind. His smile was cheery, hidden behind a very thick black beard.

"What can I do for you, sweetie?" He asked, looking at her hair for a millisecond before returning his gaze to his possible customer.

"Um, I was wondering where one might get their hair cut, this is awfully heavy on my scalp." She offered a hopeless smile, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Talio take two loaves of bread. Her smile hardened, angrily. 

"Oh, of course!" The merchant frowned slightly because it was a strange situation altogether. 

"Barvis cuts hair, he lives just down this street and to the right." Nayi nodded appreciatively and ran after Talio who had already gotten quite far ahead.

"Thank you!" She yelled over her shoulder, finally catching up to him. He winced, and handed her a half a loaf of bread, she freed her left hand by letting the hair bundle drop, grabbing it.

"Seriously, a haircut? Was that the only thing you could think of?" He snorted, biting into his half. 

"You stole from him! That's despicable!" Nayi said angrily, biting into her bread. 

"Oh, so you have money to buy food then? Didn't think so. Besides, that's what me and Silenus have to do every day. Therefore, you wouldn't be able to travel with us without having a mental crisis every time we need breakfast." Talio said, smirking. 

"Fine, so why'd you take the second loaf if you were going to just break it in half? Seemed pretty cruel to me." She said, chewing the bread regretfully.

"Silenus needs to eat too." Talio stated blankly, staring at her as though this was pretty obvious, and it was.

"Oh. You really care about him, huh?" She asked, slightly surprised. 

"Enough to get him food? Yes." He questioned, giving her a funny look.

"So." She started, finishing her bread.

"You were going to tell me the story of how you came to be." She looked him the eyes, not willing to budge, as they made their way down the street. Talio groaned. 

"Fine. Jeez, you're so persistent. I'll tell you, only if you tell me how you became a cursed cat after." He waved his half-finished bread in the air like a baton. 

"It all started when Silenus's crackpot sister created that device. She was a genius, or at least that's what Silenus said. Her name was Maenad, and about three days before she finished the thing, she disappeared. Silenus says it's because of the device, I think she just ran away. Their circumstances weren't exactly ideal at home, y'know?" He paused to browse the vendors on the street they had turned to. Nayi nodded, listening hard. 

"So I was a runaway, and when I found Silenus he was cleaning out his sister's old lab. We accidentally tampered with the device, and it sent us somewhere random. That was two years ago, and I've been 15 ever since. That's one of the reasons you're not allowed to come with, it stops your aging completely, I have no idea why. Also you can't come 'cause you're annoying." He snickered, stopping at yet another vendor. 

"You take trades?" He asked, looking up at the merchant. The merchant nodded happily, so Talio brought out a very pretty jade necklace (which was likely fake, and obtained during their adventures), and grabbed a pair of pants that seemed to fit Nayi somewhat. In the meantime, she had been processing the entirety of the story that had been recollected for her.

"Here." He threw the pants at her, they stuck to her face somewhat, a pair of rather baggy silk trousers. She snapped back to reality.

"These are ridiculous. And why should I care about stopping the aging process? I have nothing left." She said, letting her hair fall behind her. She examined the pants, irritation creasing her brow.

"No." Talio stopped, his voice cold.

"We've been wandering for so long, looking for our home, we've practically forgotten what it looks like. You don't want that, if I didn't have Silenus I would've probably gone crazy by now." He stared at her, it was the stare of someone who'd seen so many things. Talio was just desperate to go home. Taken aback, Nayi returned her gaze to the ground.

"A-alright. I need a place to put these ridiculous things on." Talio nodded affirmatively like he was glad he'd finally stopped her from finding interest in their transporter.

"Just go behind a tree? Or something." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Nayi glared at him. 

"Fine." She went behind a vendor stall that was seemingly abandoned and emerged a few moments later.

"I look like I'm about to do a rap concert." She said, her expression looked as though she'd given up all hope. Meanwhile, Talio had broken down into a fit of laughter.

"Stop that." She commanded, folding her arms.

"Fine, fine." He chuckled. 

"Weren't you going to tell me how you came to be a cursed cat?" Talio asked curiously, finishing the rest of his bread. 

"Oh yeah." Nayi murmured, absently touching her hair. Stuffing the bread in her pocket she started her story.

"Well I was born in the order of the Goldeneyes, which is an empire with jurisdiction over several planets. I was the princess of the first tier. My father was Emperor Yari Goldeneye. But I made a terrible mistake that should have cost me my life. But my father was compassionate, he cursed me to remain a cat for the rest of my days, and hid an amulet that would change me back on a nearby abandoned planet. He banished me to that planet, dooming me to look for it for the rest of my days. I finally found it in the hands of that old woman, but I could not get it back. Then you guys came along." Talio mulled that over for a bit, he had indeed heard of the Goldeneyes but figured that mentioning it to Nayi would just embarrass her.

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but your dad's kinda mean." He didn't want to push any farther at this point. 

"And just because you shared, doesn't mean we're taking you with us. I mean, why not just stay here? This place is great ... sorta." Talio looked around.

"Oh no, I'm coming with. You have no choice." She answered cheerfully, running ahead of him.

"Silenus is probably waiting for us right?" She asked, turning to face him whilst running backward. Resigning to his fate, he figured that he'd talk to Silenus about it.

"Yeah alright." He sighed, jogging to catch up with her. A few moments later, they had begun their ascent of the clock tower. The staircase lined the outside of it, giving the two of them a view of the stars and a large body of sparkling water that stretched out just behind the market. Once they got to the top they could see Silenus hunched over a worn black notebook, writing furiously. 

"Ah. Welcome back, I'm glad you have pants now." He said, snapping the book shut. 

"It turns out we're in Valacia, Bernia. A planet that was recently devastated by an invasion. Fortunately, none of the invaders are hostile. They've just taken up residence in the bodies of the locals." He nodded, satisfied with his research.

"So." Nayi began, tentatively. 

"Here we go." Talio muttered, rubbing his face.

"I know that you said no, but I'd like to ask again formally. May I accompany you on your adventures?" Nayi bowed, which was customary in the Goldeneye Empire when you asked for something. 

"Are you seriously bowing? Well, save your breath because he's not going to say yes." Talio said, yelping in pain when Nayi kicked him in the shin.

"Hey! That's where I got bitten!" He cried, grabbing his leg. Silenus observed this with a slightly amused twinkle in his eye. Shrugging nonchalantly, he opened the book to a random page.

"Sure. But before you decide, try reading this. It's all of our recorded exploits, some of them get pretty weird. And if you use the device enough you stop-"

"aging. Yes, Talio told me." She finished for him, taking the book. 

"Hold up there. If we go, you need to cut your hair." Talio grabbed a knife from his backpack, and handed it to her. With little hesitation she grabbed it, setting the book down. She cut it just above her shoulder, watching with some regret as the hair fell to the floor.

"Better?" She asked, grabbing the two outrageously large bundles of hair in her hands.

"It looks great!" Talio yelled awkwardly. Nayi just stared at him. Silenus took the two bundles of hair from her, and stuffed them in his pack. Now Nayi stared at him, Talio too.

"You'd be surprised what you can trade with some merchants." Silenus said, shrugging. He zipped the bag up. 

"Dude, gross." Nayi said, trying the word 'dude' on for size.

"Anyways, I'll start reading while we're traveling." She said, nodding at the blinking blue light on the device. And with a flash of light, they were gone. "This is amazing!" Nayi exclaimed, her head buried in the black book given to her by Silenus. Her golden eyes flashed over the pages, speed reading.


	2. The Warrior Nexus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last finished part I have, enjoy.

"Watch it." Talio grumbled as they walked through the crowded street. It was daytime now, and only moments ago it had been night in the city of Bernia.

"So, where are we this time?" Nayi asked, looking at the towering golden buildings, and well-paved cobblestone streets. 

"The Warrior Nexus. While it's rare for us to visit a place more than once, the Warrior Nexus exists outside of time and space. It's a typical hub for adventurers. And our transporter is drawn to it." Silenus replied, sidestepping all kinds of burly folks who were itching to fight.

"Where are we going?" Nayi inquired, also trying to avoid the onslaught of people. 

"Jeez, you sure do ask a lot of questions." Talio said but he could tell that Silenus was enjoying being the teacher for once.

"Shut up, it's only my second time traveling." She snapped, putting the book into her borrowed hoodie pocket.

"We're going to the Nexus Arena. A minor tournament is going on right now but I would've liked to come during the Nexus Tournament. It's when the greatest warriors of every world come to fight. The prize is immortality." Silenus said, pointing to the giant golden and marble colosseum from which sounds of clanging weapons and battle cries could be heard. Nayi's jaw dropped.

"Woah." She said, her eyes transfixed on the glowing building.

"How is that impressive, Princess? You're a literal Goldeneye." Talio asked, rolling his eyes and walking ahead of her.

"Do not call me that." She snapped. 

"Sameus is probably out vending right now, I want to get there quick." Talio said, ignoring her.

"I don't get how you can like that stuff." Silenus muttered, following him into one of the many large openings in the colosseum. 

"Don't get lost, Nayi." Silenus said, making sure he had eyes on her.

"Yes sir. So who's Sameus?" She asked. It was noticeably darker inside the colosseum outer ring, vendors selling mostly food yelling into the darkness. She could see that most of them were not human. 

"You'll see." Silenus said, joining Talio at a stall which sold fried gunk on a stick. That was quite literally the title painted on the headboard above the merchant. The merchant who sold the fried gunk was ...

"A bipedal frog?" Nayi stared, wedging herself in between Silenus and Talio to get a better look. Talio stifled a laugh.

"Hey! I am a toad, proud member of the Bufoni race!" The vendor snapped angrily. The toad, presumably Sameus, stuck his oversized tongue out and licked the side of his mouth. 

"Since when did you start rolling with idiot humans, boy?" Sameus asked Talio, using his slimy hands to tug down the ill-fitting baby blue shirt over his pudgy underbelly. Talio shrugged, leaning on the stall.

"She started traveling with us yesterday. So I'm stuck with her. And what did I tell you about calling me boy, Sameus? I'm seventeen now." He frowned, grabbing one of the fried gunk sticks. He bit into it with relish. Nayi and Silenus winced, a bit of crunching was involved that likely shouldn't of been.

"Oh, and it shows." The vendor said sarcastically.

"You better pay for that." He snapped, eating one of his own fried gunk sticks. Talio grinned, finishing it off.

"Come on Nayi, they're like old women. They're going to reminisce until one of them dies." Silenus muttered. Nayi nodded, grinning.

"You can find us when you're done talking. We'll be in the stands." Talio shrugged, watching them both leave. In the corner of his eye, he could see Sameus grinning at him.

"Knock that off." He mumbled. Silenus and Nayi found a place to sit at the top of the colosseum. What unfolded beneath them were thousands of seats, and a gigantic arena where a Centaur and a small robot were fighting. Four giant screens enhancing the action hung from the metal roof. 

"Woah." Nayi whispered in awe. Silenus nodded, watching the fight with little interest. The centaur lost, and the robot won. As soon as the fight was over, a person descended from the metal roof, he stood on a small metal platform, gripping a rope that was slowly lowering him. It was when the giant TVs magnified him that Silenus choked slightly. 

"Shit. Well, of course, he's here." He muttered, rubbing his face. 'He' was a white-haired, red-eyed young man dressed in colorful red pirate clothing. Gold buttons and frilly white lace adorned the long jacket he wore, all of which was topped off by a tricorne hat of the same colors. Nayi blinked, confused.

"Who's he?" Nayi inquired curiously. 

"Pholos Dion, self-proclaimed Time King." Silenus said, glaring at his face on the big screen. He was announcing the next match, between legendary bounty hunter Kari and the wizard Jericho. 

"What's so bad about him? Looks pretty nice to me." Nayi was surprised that someone could get Silenus so irritated. But then again, she'd only known him for around three days.

"He does anything for money. And just because of that staff, people believe him to truly be the Time King." Silenus scowled, and Nayi noticed that he did, in fact, have a large golden staff. On the top was a clock, whose hands spun speedily. 

"So ... anything includes being the announcer of a minor tournament?" Nayi asked quizzically. Silenus nodded. It was then that Talio came up to their seats, carrying two sodas and yet another fried gunk stick. 

"Here." He handed them both sodas and sat down. 

"Thanks." Silenus replied monotonously, his eyes never leaving Pholos Dion. 

"It took forever to find y- oh look, it's the Time King." Talio snickered, entertained by Silenus's expression. Silenus just sipped his soda quietly. 

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for intermission! I hope to see you back here in a single time unit!" And with that, the Time King ascended through the metal roof. 

"'Time Unit'" Talio mocked in finger quotations.

"What're time units?" Nayi asked, eyebrow cocked.

"It's his own made-up form of time, like the yuo, or the hour." Talio said, climbing from his seat and gesturing for the both of them to follow him. They both obliged, Silenus sipping at his soda and Nayi tentatively trying it. 

"Well I don't know what either of those are, but I think I get what you're saying." Nayi replied, following him out of the colosseum, Sameus waved to them as they passed by, and down a side path.

"Now where are we going?" She inquired, falling in step next to him.

"The sparring area, I was figuring I could fight some chumps and get easy money." Talio said, stretching his arm above his head. Nayi rolled her eyes.

"How impressive." She said, as Talio turned to face the small fenced off fighting areas where a few creatures were fighting. And standing in the middle ... was Pholos Dion. Silenus tried to back away before he saw him, but it was too late. He'd noticed, and was currently walking toward the trio. Silenus ran his hand through his hair. 

"Hello, enjoying your time in the Nexus, did you find everything okay?" He asked, smiling. Talio and Silenus sighed simultaneously. 

"What do you want?" Silenus asked, glaring at him. 

"I am taken aback at this rough treatment. I'd heard that you had taken on a new companion, and I wanted to welcome her to the world of traveling!" He flashed a winning smile at Nayi, who in turn just stared at him. Grabbing her hand, he knelt down and kissed it.

"Oh god." Talio said, placing a hand on his face. Nayi snatched her hand away and moved a safe way back.

"Smart." Silenus muttered. Directing his attention back to Silenus, Pholos spoke.

"How about we duel? It sure has been a long time." Pholos offered, pointing to a rack of swords and weapons. 

"What would be the point?" Silenus asked, exasperated. 

"200 points." Pholos answered, figuring that this would be the only way to get him to play.

"Do it." Talio hissed in his ear. 

"Fine." Silenus snapped, pulling off the new hoodie he had obtained and throwing it in Talio's face.

"Points are the currency of this world I take it?" Nayi asked, watching the two young men as they walked to grab their weapons of choice. Both of them chose extremely thin sabers. Talio nodded.

"Are you sure Silenus even knows how to fight?" Nayi asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Two years is a while to pick up stuff, he knows enough." Talio watched as they entered the fenced-in dirt sparring area. Pholos standing on one end and Silenus on the other. Silenus drew in a deep breath, and launched himself across the dirt, sending puffs of dust in his wake. Pholos simultaneously leaped into action, their swords meeting with a deafening clang. They pulled back, circling each other. Both men were graceful and agile, lashing out with their blades every few moments. When it seemed that no one would win, Pholos shoved his foot into the space that Silenus had been about to step into. It sent him to the ground, and Pholos place the tip of his sword on Silenus's throat.  
"I win." He gloated. But Silenus acted quickly, throwing a handful of dirt into his eyes, and kicking him to the ground. 

"We're done, give me the points." He demanded, positioning his sword on Pholos's throat. He shrugged, offering a careless smile. 

"I figured." Silenus scowled, pulling the sword away. Pholos scrambled to his feet.

"I'm sorry." He called out with little sincerity, but Silenus had already put his sword away and headed for a small building. Presumably a bathroom/drinking station. Pholos followed him, jogging a bit. Nayi was stunned by Silenus's fighting ability, but Talio had already moved on to bargaining with a large insect type alien. Nayi was curious to see what would happen between the two of them. She got a bit more then she had bargained for because when she rounded the corner, she could see that they were ... kissing? Definitely not what she expected. She gasped a bit louder than intended, drawing their attention. Pholos pulled back, searching for the disturbance.

"Oh great." Silenus muttered, hanging his head.

"Don't be so dramatic." Pholos murmured, his arms still wrapped around Silenus's torso. Nayi cleared her throat.

"I'll just go back outside." She spread her hands and smiled awkwardly.

"I'll come with." Silenus said, looking rather worn out. Pholos whispered something in his ear, and then let him go. Once they were outside, Nayi cleared her throat again.

"S-so ... what was that?" She asked, fearing that he might be angry.

"Pholos is .. constantly around, always has been since the start of our travels." Nayi was still a bit confused about the nature of their relationship. But seeing the look in Silenus's eyes when he talked about him was starting to clear things up. Silenus sighed.

"Sorry you had to walk in on that." A melancholy smile crossed his face for a moment. By now Talio had rejoined them and whatever response Nayi had planned was stuffed back into her throat. Talio rose an eyebrow, wondering what exactly he just came back to.

"So ... I ended up getting 20 points from that bug. Turns out he's not very good at arm wrestling. And what happened to your points?" He directed this final question to Silenus. 

"Pholos was lying." He said, grabbing his hoodie and pulling it on. 

"Seriously?! Of course, he was. Whatever I can still afford at least one hotel room then tonight. I'm exhausted." Talio complained. 

"Alright. I'll be back later." Silenus said, leaving the two of them and walking farther down the side path. 

"Where's he going?" Nayi inquired, watching him leave with a confused look. 

"Uh." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, giving her a funny look.

"Don't worry about it, he'll be back in the morning." He said, heading back to the main path. Night had begun to fall all around them, the sky tinged red. Nayi rose an eyebrow and followed him. 

"Seriously, what's he doing?" Nayi asked, refusing to let it go. 

"I told you not to worry about it, Princess." Talio snapped, stopping at the doors of a grand building. It was beautiful, a mix of wood and gold with large windows. 

"One room, one night." He demanded of the clerk, who looked pretty human, aside from the extra set of arms located just below the first set. 

"20 Points." He said, his voice monotone as he typed on several different screens. His mind was in a thousand places at once, such as the nature of a Quadretetron (a race founded off of technology, very hard workers).

"What?! That's all I have." Talio argued. But the desk clerk simply looked up at him unsympathetically from behind his black-rimmed, square glasses.

"Fine." He snapped, placing two silver thin rectangles onto the desk. The clerk used his free hand to grab them and put them away.

"Room 12a." He said, his eyes moving to the next customer in line (a nasty looking ogre). 

"Thank you for your service." Talio muttered sarcastically, climbing the stairs that were placed grandly in the middle of the room.

"That man had four arms." Nayi said, her jaw nearly touched the floor.

"You didn't get out much in that kingdom of yours, did you Princess?" Nayi scowled. Talio grinned. He opened the door of 12a, it was quite nice. Except for the fact that there was only one bed and a simple couch.

"So are you going to tell me where Silenus is now?" She asked, refusing to give up.

"I said no, shrimp, he'll be back tomorrow. Now go to bed." He pointed to the bed and proceeded to grab a blanket from the closet and made camp on the floor. Sure enough, the next morning Silenus was crashed on the couch. Nayi smiled.


End file.
